Michelle Troconis sobs as police interview about Jennifer Dulos’s death played at trial: Updates
Michelle Troconis is accused of helping then-boyfriend Fotis Dulos cover up the murder of his estranged wife Jennifer Dulos in Connecticut in 2019
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Michelle Troconis is facing trial in Stamford, Connecticut for her alleged role in helping her lover Fotis Dulos conceal the murder of his estranged wife and mother of his five children, Jennifer Dulos.
At the time of her disappearance in May 2019, Jennifer – whose remains have never been found – was in the midst of a bitter divorce and custody battle with Dulos. Investigators believe Fotis killed her in the garage of her home and that Ms Troconis, Fotis’ then-girlfriend, helped him cover up the murder.
On Thursday, Ms Troconis broke down in tears in the courtroom as jurors were shown her first interview with police following Jennifer’s disappearance.
In the footage, she is heard claiming that she and Dulos were staying together that morning, and that he woke up in her presence and got in the shower with her.
Earlier in the week, jurors saw a bloodstained long-sleeve, striped Vineyard Vines shirt that Jennifer is believed to have been wearing on the day she was killed.
Fotis killed himself in 2020 after being charged with murder.
Ms Troconis is charged with conspiracy to murder, tampering with evidence and hindering prosecution.
Warning: Graphic images
What happened to Jennifer Dulos’ children?
Mom-of-five murdered, husband dead by suicide and his lover on trial: The Jennifer Dulos case
Michelle Troconis defended by her family at Jennifer Dulos murder conspiracy trial
Michelle Troconis trial kicks off with new bodycam video from Jennifer Dulos search
Video shows man removing seemingly bloody object from trash
The prosecution showed surveillance footage of what appeared to be a homeless man removing trash from a garbage can where Fotis Dulos had been seen discarding something earlier the same day.
The man appeared to remove an item with a large blood-like stain and then he put it back before walking away.
Trooper Brett Attmore, who was on the witness stand at the time, confirmed to the court that law enforcement has been able to identify the person, but details were not revealed.
Defence admits surveillance video shows Michelle Troconis in Fotis’ truck
The state presented surveillance footage of what appeared to be Fotis and Ms Troconis in the Ford Raptor dumping trash in various bins in Hartford.
During cross-examination of the witness who was taking the court through the timeline of the footage, Ms Troconis’ attorney Schoenhorn admitted the videos depicted Fotis Dulos and Troconis, but disputed her culpability.
Ms Troconis has pleaded not guilty to the charges she faces and insists she did not know Fotis was doing anything nefarious as she watched him toss garbage bags into random bins.
The surveillance footage showed Fotis Dulos driving his black Ford Raptor pickup truck down Albany Avenue with Ms Troconis riding as a passenger as he threw out trash bags.
In one video, as Fotis was seen getting out of the truck and slipping an envelope down a sewer drain, Ms Troconis is seen opening the passenger door – which was right over the sewer – and reaching down to the sidewalk.
The envelope was later discovered to contain license plates that were once registered to a vehicle owned by Fotis, police said.
A ‘detour’ on the way to Starbucks
Ms Troconis’ attorney Jon Schoenhorn argued that she was taken by surprise when her then-boyfriend Fotis Dulos took “an extra half-a-mile detour” from what was supposed to be a trip to a Starbucks in West Hartford.
Instead, Ms Troconis found herself tagging along with Fotis as he dumped several trash bags in bins along Albany Avenue on 24 May 2019 – the same day his estranged wife Jennifer Dulos was allegedly killed.
The defence insists his client had no knowledge of any ulterior motive for the trip and did not know what the bags contained.
“She did not know what was in any of those bags,” Mr Schoenhorn told reporters on Tuesday during a court break.
He explained that Ms Troconis was on the phone with her mother and later her daughter as they drove along in the Ford Raptor truck on Albany Avenue.
At one point, according to Mr Schoenhorn, she looked up and asked Fotis, “What are we doing here?”
But former Connecticut State Police Detective Steve Soares, who was tasked with reviewing surveillance footage from the plaza where Starbucks is located, testified on Tuesday that two separate cameras that night captured what appears to be Fotis’ truck driving past the plaza at 7.27pm and heading toward Hartford. City cameras then captured the truck on its four-mile route in the area of Albany Avenue.
It wasn’t until a half-hour later, at 7.54pm, when the truck was spotted pulling into the Starbucks plaza parking lot.
WATCH: Nanny describes day Connecticut mother Jennifer Dulos disappeared
‘Blood-soaked’ clothing, zip ties, ponchos shown in court
On day eight, investigators testified that they recovered several items covered in “blood-like substance” stuffed into trash bags and dumped into bins along a four-mile stretch of Albany Avenue in Hartford.
Grim photos of the items were shown in court before the state carefully held up each piece to show to the jury.
State Police Sgt Kevin Duggan testified that the items were pulled from trash bins in Hartford where, according to prosecutors, surveillance video shows Ms Troconis sitting in a black Ford Raptor truck with Dulos as he tossed the bags just hours after Jennifer vanished.
A white bra and Vineyard vines shirt, both of which were cut down the middle and appeared to be soaked with blood, and believed to have been Jennifer Dulos’, prompted a reaction from her close friend Carrie Luft who buried her head in her hands, the CT Insider reported.
The state asked Sgt Duggan to describe the shirt. He pointed out the lettering that read, “EDSFTG.”
“It’s a Vineyard Vines slogan, ‘Every day should feel this good,’” Sgt Duggan responded, at which point Ms Luft let out an audible exhalation, the local paper reported.
The items were recovered on 30 May 2019, after police discovered the video footage showing Fotis Dulos making multiple stops to dispose of the trash bags.
According to Ms Troconis’ arrest warrant, DNA from both Dulos and Jennifer was found on items in the trash and Ms Troconis’ DNA was found on some of the trash bags. That evidence is expected to come later in the trial.
In the trash bins in the area of Albany Avenue and Green Street, where Fotis was seen stopping on 24 May 2019, Duggan testified about a slew of items covered with a “blood-like substance.”
Besides the bra and shirt, other items included zip ties which had been cut and appeared to be sized for something larger than a wrist or ankle; two plastic ponchos covered in apparent blood spatter; a white towel covered in reddish stains; the handle of a mop that was coated in red specks and twisted into the shape of an “N.”
Also found coated in a “blood-like substance,” was a broken razor blade, two pairs of black gloves, a screwdriver, and a sponge.
Second juror dismissed from Michelle Troconis trial after comparing case to ‘Gone Girl’
A second juror in the Michelle Troconis murder conspiracy trial has been dismissed after reportedly comparing the high-profile Jennifer Dulos death case to psychological thriller Gone Girl.
Ms Troconis is standing trial on charges in connection to the murder of her ex-boyfriend Fotis Dulos’ estranged wife Jennifer Dulos, who disappeared on 24 May 2019. Investigators believe Dulos killed Jennifer in the garage of her home and that Ms Troconis helped him cover up the murder. Her body has never been found but she has since been declared dead.
Second juror dismissed after comparing Jennifer Dulos case to ‘Gone Girl’
In 2019, Fotis Dulos’ attorney alleged Jennifer Dulos faked her disappearance, which is the plot of the psychological thriller Gone Girl
WATCH: Michelle Troconis defended by her family at Jennifer Dulos murder conspiracy trial
Michelle Troconis and Fotis Dulos seen on new video hours after alleged murder
Michelle Troconis remained expressionless in court as jurors were shown surveillance video of what appeared to be the socialite riding around with her then-boyfriend Fotis Dulos as he disposed of several trash bags on the same day his estranged wife vanished.
At the time of Jennifer Dulos’s disappearance in May 2019, the Connecticut mother-of-five was in the midst of a bitter divorce and custody battle with Mr Dulos. Investigators allege he killed her in the garage of her home and Ms Troconis helped him cover up the murder.
Michelle Troconis and Fotis Dulos seen on new video hours after alleged murder
Police said they later recovered some of the bags and found clothing, zip ties and other items with Jennifer Dulos’s DNA
Loved ones say it was ‘brutal’ seeing bloody evidence
Jennifer Dulos’ family released a statement about the grim evidence presented at the trial of the woman accused of helping her then-boyfriend in the cover-up of his estranged wife.
“For Jennifer’s family and loved ones, seeing the physical evidence on Tuesday was brutal but also crucial,” Carrie Luft said in a statement to NBC.
“Witnessing Jennifer’s blood-soaked clothing, knowing it was the shirt, the bra, she wore on the last day of her life, made us imagine, again, what she must have endured.”
“We hope that seeing this evidence in three dimensions can put an end to any suggestion that Jennifer is ‘missing.’ She died a tragic death, and her loss is felt beyond what words can express,” she added.
Ms Luft and several other loved ones became visibly emotional in court. A blood-soaked Vineyard Vines shirt was shown, Ms Luft buried her head in her hands, the CT Insider reported.
Prosecutors then asked Sgt Duggan to describe the shirt, and he pointed out the lettering that read, “EDSFTG.”
“It’s a Vineyard Vines slogan, ‘Every day should feel this good,’” Sgt Duggan explained.